Duvel

Thanks, interesting read ...

Good morning from Central ! It rains and has cooled down a bit (31 oC). Even better, I got my dark green tea this morning at the convenience store next to the ferry pier Now editing slides while watching the clouds slowly creeping down from Victoria peak, at the backside of Jardine house...

A little bit of confession time: the above mentioned Mentaiko Carbonara spaghetti was actually my second dinner - the type of salty rich carbohydrate fuel you'd associate with being a bit tipsy and a bit more hungry ... Yesterday evening after work I went out with two colleagues for a drink, just because. The location of choice was "Globe" close to Hollywood road in a side street, a pub-type establishment with quite a selection of beers on tap and decent nibbles. Beer on tap ... While these looked tempting, my favourite beer was available, so naturally: And sticking the the Belgian theme: La Chouffe. Note that they didn't had the correct glass. It should come in something that looks pretty much like a Duvel glass ... Nibbles ... Fish fingers ... Lamb ribs with minty sauce ... ... and carbs. Before heading home perhaps a cocktail ? I'll had the Gin Royal Tea. Quite refreshing ... Toilet signs were a bit confusing. I doubt that in an establishment that serves copious amounts of alcohol obscure gender designations for toilets are a good idea ... Hollywood road at 20.30h ... Walking home to the ferry I enjoyed the view over Victoria harbor and the thought that there was a pack of Mentaiko waiting in the fridge ...

I brought a box of Mentaiko for my friend from Japan, part of which went into Fridays Takoyaki. Today I got presented with some of it back, so a "light" dinner was in order: Mentaiko Carbonara Spaghetti. Garlic fried in butter, cream added and reduced, bit of dashi and mixed with cooked spaghetti. Finally Mentaiko crumbled in and mixed ... Very tasty

The topic of the domestic helpers has a lot of controversies - exploitation is still known, but less common these days as more and more people become aware of their situation. I would not subscribe to the statement of a "dark underbelly", though. Yes, there are horrible stories floating around how some people treat their helper. I personally know a lot of helpers that are happy with their employer, and do have a "regular" working life with fixed hours and sufficient free time. I don't think neither that the helpers would agree on the "homeless" statement. It is true that because they usually live with their employers families, they can't just meet at their "home". That being said, where and how they spend their free time is completely up to them. Some go to the beaches, the outlying islands, the parks - the cardboard boxes / walls are merely a tool to make the meeting place a little bit more "cozy". The common denominator is that they meet with their friends and have a good time. I agree that the rest of the week it is a hard live for them and it is my personal conviction that the only way to support them is to treat them fair, and show them the kindness and respect they deserve as you would show to anyone else. You will not be able to change the fact that they earn so much more in the years spend abroad (be in HK, the middle east, ... compared to even a good job in their home country) and thus frequently make the decision to sacrifice so much of their private life for a more secure future of their family abroad.

Kewpie mayonnaise is only popular here with fried foods. The trend in HK is all things torched/broiled/grilled and I have to admit that the torched salmon with black pepper is currently one of my favourites ...

As promised a small glimpse into Kowloons fruit market, your address for all things "sweet" ... The market is located close to Shanghai street, where all restaurant supplies can be found in Hong Kong. Melons ... Grapes. Apples & co ... Exotica ... The cherries looked fantastic! Hmm. Technically not fruit Drinks. Soooo fresh ... The market has a distinct "wholesale" feeling to it ... Workers are here since the very early morning and spend their "afterhours" playing Mahjong ... ... or contemplating about the meaning of life. Close to the market, a herbal tea shop. Cantonese are very health conscious and you can get any kind of tea for curing heat-induced insomnia to the dreaded foot asthma for just 20 HKD Of course everything tastes like its very healthy ... And if that doesn't help, you can but some tonics and ointments in the nearby pharmacy ... If you walk a bit north you'll close in to Mong Kok, home of the famous "ladies market", a very popular night market selling everything from kitschy souvenirs to high quality copy watches. Of course, nothing to be bought there at daytime but the area has also some very good street food. Snacks ... e.g. battered and fried veggies ... ... skewered variety meats, stinky tofu ... ... and of course curry fish balls - maybe the most iconic street snack. Fish (or cuttlefish) balls simmered in flavorful curry sauce and sold at 15 HKD for a noodlecup full of spicy goodness. I believe @rarerollingobject is particularly fond of them. So popular you can buy it in the convenience store for making at home ... And for those with a sweet tooth: Waffles

For lunch we headed out today for Sushi. As sushi is very popular with locals and expats alike, there are a couple of decent sushi chains in Hong Kong. Todays pick was Genki Sushi, the "low cost" outlet of Sen Ryu. As far as I can tell they share the same rice preparation (which is very tasty), but Genki Sushi has cheaper cuts and some Japanese-style "fast food" type dishes added (e.g. fried cuttlefish lips, kaki furai, etc.). Genki Sushi usually operates as a Kaiten sushi place, but you can always order a la carte as well. The recently reopened branch in Shun Tak center has a slightly different concept: You order via tablet computer and your choices arrive via a two story sled system. If you come mid service (around12.30h) you'll need to wait a bit to be seated, but everything comes fresh. I do enjoy particularly the still warm rice ... Your "station" ... Choices ... Ordering is done via tablet PC. 8 choices max per order, but you can send as many orders as you want. I have not fully grasped as to why the limitation... Salmon roe ... Crab meat & avocado ... Fried shrimp ... Red shrimp sashimi. My "go to" choice. Super sweet meat ... Broiled salmon ... Marinated and broiled salmon with spicy condiment (kind of ma la) ... I ordered the wrong Udon. Wanted Tempura Udon, got Bacon Carbonara ... Negitoro ! Grilled black pepper oyster ... Fatty tuna belly ... Tataki bonito with Yuzu peel. Very good! And to end the meal - the traditional egg. Success All in all about 20 USD. Definitely more than I would usually spend for lunch, but very worthwhile ...

350 HKD for a catty (604.7 g).

As other have pointed out correctly, its Geoduck. Thankfully you described it as a "Yukon gold potatoe". Other associations with its shape are not as flattering ... The mantis shrimp meat is very sweet, with disctinct iodine-like aftertaste. I'd would have said "briny", but its not salt primarily that comes into mind. Due to its size it has a mouth feel like poached lobster, and it was nicely steamed.

Next time you are around, please do let me know. I'll help you recharging

Good morning from Central! Disaster struck early this morning when I was unable to procure my beloved dark green tea for breakfast. Now I am sitting at my desk with a NORMAL green tea and starting to wonder how I will survive the day with only the regular amount of catechins and caffeine ...

For "western" type of expats (incl. Japanese) I'd assume slightly below 100.000, working mostly in the finance sector, international trade and service industry. As mentioned above, domestic helpers - expats as well - exceed those numbers with about 200.000 Filipinos (mostly Filipinas, actually) and about 150.000 Indonesians and Malay. Especially for the domestic helpers there is a huge parallel infrastructure in place for food, telecommunication and other services - all low cost, as their salaries do not support the "western / HK" lifestyle here in Hong Kong. P.S.: The markets are not the olfactory assault you'd probably expect (unless you enter the Durian section of the fruit market). Everything is rather fresh, despite the temperatures ...

Thanks @blue_dolphin, that is a very good depiction on the situation for most domestic helpers. Nowadays, especially in many western expat families, the helpers are already off by Saturday, usually lunch time. But the time everyone has off is on sundays. Most Filipinas go to church service first and then gather at any public place, be it the overpasses in the city, the harbor shore, the parks etc. And as the article said, the food is the big link - as everyone prepares one or two dishes and they are all shared. It's a feast, at least once in a week, substituting the family gatherings at their real homes ...

Still going on. Early in the morning they were only building up. But as promised I asked for the food... One particular group had this today: Salmon head sinigang (a soup), fried mackarel and tilapia, fried greens with chili and a bean stew.

Dinner was light: "Lantau Leftover noodles" - cappellini boiled in a bit of Dashi (per absorption method), then the leftover clams and chopped up squid from lunch. Topped with fried little fishes. And an Asahi (8 more to go ...).

About 350 g ... And just done, almost like a poached lobster. Very sweet meat. I don't care for the little ones, but this one was ok ...

"Restore yin and essence, tonify the qi, and strengthen yang" ... so basically everything. A universal tonic, like Ginseng. Probably the Chinese equivalent to popping a multivitamin everyday

Lucky you ... I was too lazy to go out in the sweltering heat so only Asahi for me (still 11 more in the fridge, though )

And strictly for the purpose of this blog a small ice cream sampler ...

Definitely '"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food" (Hippocrates)

Lamma Island ... A 30 min ferry ride from Central, Lamma is essentially popular for two things: Hiking trails and sea food. The locals there have a very laid back attitude (almost Hippie-like) and the entire island looks like its from the 70's (or at least no major refurbishments have taken place since then. Hiking was cut short a bit by the weather. 35 oC, and a "real feel" temperature of 45oC, coupled with a high humidity. You can't refill yourself with beer as fast as you sweat it out The village sells all kinds of things, including home-made seafood products. On my trail ... Bananas! The beach next to the power plant. Here the popular "Lamma 500" dragon boat race takes place, in which I also compete for the last two years ... Hong Kong quality plumbing ... Of course one ought to have seafood when on Lamma, directly at the harbor front. You can pick your favorites directly from the tanks ... Mantis shrimp ... Crab ... Spiny lobster ... Dim Sum (if you want to have a bit of starchy goodness): Being seated all is left to enjoy the scenery ... At this temperatures, ice-cold beer helps a lot! Choice of today: black bean clams, fried salt & pepper squid and for @KennethT Mantis shrimp ... Ordered too much of course, rest will be enjoyed tonight with noodles ... And a little produce to take home

You might have noticed that my breakfast post was missing. I slept a bit longer today and then headed out to Central in order to catch a ferry crossing the Pearl River delta to Macao. Macao - stemming from its past as a Portuguese colony - has a distinct different "native" cuisine (next to the Cantonese of course). Unfortunately, I did not realize that Sundays might be more popular than the rest of the week and waiting times for the next free ferry (which depart in 15 min intervals) was more than 2 hours. So I discarded the idea, bought the ever-so-popular Macanese Pork Chop sandwich for breakfast in the Macanese restaurant in the ferry terminal and headed for Pier No. 4 to take you to Lamma island instead ... Shun Tak center - Macao ferry terminal. Florinda Café - a very popular Macanese café. Why people want to go for a Macanese café, when they are on their way to Macao somewhat eludes me ... The menu ... Breakfast ! Portugese egg tarts. Ferry leaving without me My little treat for not going ... Pork chop sandwich & lemon ice tea.

Oh ... there are plenty of people here, believe me I try to focus on the food, but if you just step out of the door, they are all there ...

You are spot on @Thanks for the Crepes! I just got the confirmation from a Cantonese friend that these are gills - Cantonese "Peng Yu Sai". Probably from manta ray (there is some sort of controversy on obtaining them) they are presumed to be good for detox. Seems eating gills is popular in Japan as well. It seems that they locals have found a way to boil / oxidize /decolorize them, as the pictures I found are all more blackish.